"[...]If more people were as loyal and loving as my dog the world would be a better place[...]
Well you know, religion tried to instigate "loving" and "loyalty" but one couldn't say it was a resounding…"

"There's plenty of evidence to the contrary... one can affect emotions through thought processes, it is the entire basis for counselling people who suffer from various "emotional' problems, doing 'happy' things can actually…"

"Yes indeed emotional responses can be quite physically disabling, but you forget to mention that a majority of emotions which lead to physical emotional responses are actually 'intellectual' emotions. Some people puke when they see blood,…"

"Because saving an animal is easy, saving humanity is such a grand task ;p So we take the easy path. The 'system' we live in is one of domination of the few rich over the many poor. To make little children not starve one has to…"

"In early humanity we kept certain animals to help in the hunt and later on they became status symbols. It's only the last few centuries that pets have come about. Pets "just for the fun of it" is a completely modern societal concept.…"

"When I came across your post it caught my eye right away. I'm 62, male and retired. But I totally agree with you about animals. Having been through two divorces, a ten year relationship and several other shorter ones, I've come to the…"

""what exactly is the biological benefit for these emotions?"
Perhaps that we don't kill and eat those animals that are beneficial to us? Dogs, sheep, cats, goats, rabbits etc. can be useful for humans up until the time where we…"

"Glad I found this question because I wanted to ask another one:
Why do humans really love other species so much?
My hypothesis is it says more about us and our brains than on biology as a whole, but I still think it's mighty interesting.
There…"

"Pardon the strange analogy... but a similar psychological/philosophical conundrum happens when white society tries to "aid" aboriginals. The white people call it 'empathy' but in reality it takes sovereignty away from…"

"Philosophically speaking I'm leaning toward humans misrepresenting emotions. All what you expressed about it being 'our' decision making process when we're saving the animals confirms what I've always thought about love and…"

"[...] which is why our empathy for our fellow humans is sometimes lacking.[...]
Or that our empathy for animals is misrepresented as our own powertrip over another being, whereas you can't have that power over another human?"

"Loving animals is so easy, because they don't challenge us. They seem to "appreciate" us. And even when they harm us (I was bitten by my german shepherd across the face when I was 4) we still forgive them, because in the context of…"